Wine outperforms other spirits

U.S. wine shipments in the United States were up 3 percent in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to a final analysis by the research firm Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates in San Rafael.

The firm said the almost 400 million cases shipped of both imported and domestic wine maintained the trend over the past decade in which wine has outperformed other alcoholic beverage categories.

The report found that sales of wines priced less than $10 were flat, while those priced higher than $10 were “trending up at rates between high single-digits to low double-digits.”

The firm found that the overall volume of wine in grocery stores increased by 1.2 million cases, but only 100,000 cases of wines under $10. It added that imported bottled table wine increases had slowed. The volume of U.S bottled exports was down in 2016, but its value increased.